An internal combustion engine that uses EM radiation to promote the combustion of an air-fuel mixture is known. For example, JP 2007-113570A1 describes such an internal combustion engine.
The internal combustion engine described in JP 2007-113570A1 is equipped with an ignition device that generates plasma discharge by emitting microwaves in a combustion chamber before or after the ignition of an air-fuel mixture. The ignition device generates local plasma using the discharge from an ignition plug such that plasma is generated in a high-pressure field, and it develops this plasma using microwaves. The local plasma is generated in a discharge gap between the tip of an anode terminal and a ground terminal.
In a conventional internal combustion engine, a large electric field is formed in the combustion chamber near the radiation antenna. Thus, EM radiation is concentrated near the radiation antenna. This means that the energy from the EM radiation can only be used near the radiation antenna.